malleus
/ˈmæl.i.əs/ noun
Forms mallei
- noun (anatomy) The small hammer-shaped bone of the middle ear. “A fracture of the malleus handle is a rare traumatic middle ear lesion.”
- noun (ichthyology) The tripus (ossicle in cypriniform fishes).
- noun (zoology) One of the paired calcareous structures within the mastax of rotifers.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin malleus (“hammer, mallet”). Doublet of maul.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The outermost of the three small auditory bones, ossicles; the hammer. It is attached to the tympanic membrane by a long process, the handle or manubrium. See Illust. of Far.
- noun One of the hard lateral pieces of the mastax of Rotifera. See Mastax.
Etymology [L., hammer. See Mall a beetle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “malleus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details